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Mike, his daughter Freya, and myself decided it would be a perfect weekend for a overnighter into Headlight Basin. This would be Freya's first trip touring in such a wild place. It was fun to see the pure look of 10 year old joy at all the small things we take for granted! Lots of fun was had and the skiing was not to shabby either!

Mike and Freya with packs loaded

Met a couple goats along the way

Even befriended a ptarmigan that was curious as to what we were doing. It followed us up the trail for a couple hundred yards before losing interest.

It decided Mike was not a friendly...

Mike's pack grew a little between the trailhead and Ingalls Pass!

The quick skin to a flat rock for a quick unpack and a nap for Freya

Mike and I decided there were a couple places that needed some tracks on them. Freya rooted us on from the perch below.

Ben had just finished telling me about a ski video where a wild bird had befriended some ski tourers and rode uphill on their packs and flew downhill with then when they skied. I was still trying to decided if I believed him when up waddled what we though was a grouse. It walked right into the middle of us and talked to us while we talked back. It didn't seem aggressive or scared. It looked curious. We might have spent 15 minutes just talking back and forth with this bird. When you reached toward it, it considered the extended item, didn't back away, and then pecked at it. A light peck. Didn't hurt the back of my hand. Then it followed us up the trail.

Maybe distracting us from a nest?

This was the best trip in recent memory. It was great to take my daughter someplace amazing, and even better that it was short enough approach not to exhaust her. Skiing was great, wildlife was abundant, weather was perfect, and the company was first class.

It's a dusky grouse - which was split up from the blue grouse cohort (not dusky and sooty) back in 2006.

No, it likely wasn't a nest issues. The birds are generally, well, wacko. One followed my wife for 4 miles while she was doing stream surveys. Another time we were doing stream surveys together in MT on kept running up to her and doing the full-on fan-tail display. I didn't get jealous.

Grouse are know to be attracted to the noise of ATVs, shiny objects, and in general are pretty tame. Doesn't see to me a strategy for long-term survival, but these species taste like crap - so there's that.

Not too many little ones touring and shredding out there, it would be cool to get them all out together sometime.

Agreed!

By the way that reminds me... I was surprised that nobody we ran into commented to Freya. We even met a group of three women skiers who didn't seem to notice there was a little girl backcountry skiing. I expected her to get comments from strangers like "good job youngster!" It was like she was invisible. I've seen that before on busy trails. I think there are lots of people who don't know what is normal to encounter and what is special, and so everything they see they assume is normal.

It's a dusky grouse - which was split up from the blue grouse cohort (not dusky and sooty) back in 2006.

No, it likely wasn't a nest issues. The birds are generally, well, wacko. One followed my wife for 4 miles while she was doing stream surveys. Another time we were doing stream surveys together in MT on kept running up to her and doing the full-on fan-tail display. I didn't get jealous.

Grouse are know to be attracted to the noise of ATVs, shiny objects, and in general are pretty tame. Doesn't see to me a strategy for long-term survival, but these species taste like crap - so there's that.

Awesome to take you kid out there for the weekend. Good job Dad!

Thanks! I knew it wasn't ruffed, blue, or ptarmigan, but I was stumped.

I for one would have commented, for sure! I think it's awesome to see young people enjoying the out of doors. Wonderful. She'll remember the trip for many years. Good for you guys! And the wildlife was a bonus.